Skirmish

v. i.	1.	To fight slightly or in small parties; to engage in a skirmish or skirmishes; to act as skirmishers. [imp. & p. p. Skirmished ; p. pr. & vb. n. Skirmishing.]
n.	1.	A slight fight in war; a light or desultory combat between detachments from armies, or between detached and small bodies of troops.
	2.	A slight contest. They never meet but there's a skirmish of wit. - Shak.

Noun	1.	skirmish - a minor short-term fight Synonyms: encounter, clash, brush
Verb	1.	skirmish - engage in a skirmish

action, aerial combat, affray, ambush, armored combat, assault, attack, battle royal, box, broil, brush, bullfight, clash, clash of arms, close, cockfight, collide, come to blows, confrontation, contest, cut and thrust, dogfight, duel, embroilment, engagement, exchange blows, exchange of blows, fence, feud, fight, fight a duel, fire fight, fracas, fray, give and take, give satisfaction, grapple, grapple with, ground combat, hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight, house-to-house combat, jostle, joust, melee, mix it up, naval combat, passage of arms, pitched battle, rassle, riot, rumble, run a tilt, run-in, running fight, scramble, scrap, scrimmage, set-to, shoving match, showdown, spar, stand-up fight, street fight, strive, struggle, tauromachy, thrust and parry, tilt, tourney, tug-of-war, tussle, wage war, war, wrestle